Category: Hymns

Ascension hymn – There are no trumpets sounding out

1       There are no trumpets sounding out,
no fiery pillars in the sky,
no monumental signs that shake,
no prophets with a haunting cry.

2       A still small voice speaks to our time,
a baby weeping from its birth,
and all its being seems to cry:
‘now is the time to spin the earth’.

[Is this the echo of the Christ
once lying in a stable stall,
who preached and lived a life of love,
whose dying offered grace to all?] This original verse can be omitted

3       His every moment challenged those
who heard his call who shared his life,
to turn their values upside down,
to put an end to hate and strife.

4       Now is the moment, now the time,
to hear the cry, to heed the word,
for us to take the path he trod,
however crazy or absurd.

5       He has no voice but ours to cry,
no hands to touch those fraught with pain,
Ascended, he left us the task,
to bring his love to life again.

Words: Andrew E Pratt (born 1948) © 2015 Stainer and Bell Ltd.
Tune: GONFALON ROYAL

Good Samaritan – The foreigners that we reject can bring the grace of God to bear

1 A man lay beaten, left for dead,
his shattered, broken frame
spoke of the kicks that brought him down,
the blows that bruise and maim.
The ones who might have offered help
could give a reason why
they left him lying in the road,
they left him there to die.

2 They spoke of fear, they passed him by,
they left him in his pain;
too busy or too self–absorbed
to turn and look again.
The ones who could have helped walked on,
they passed and soon forgot,
but one who knew the cost of love
knelt down and shared his lot.

3 When people challenge or deny
our rights and break us down,
when others leave us desolate
and friends just laugh or frown;
The foreigners that we reject,
the ones we would despise,
can bring the grace of God to bear,
bring love into our lives.

4 And when we see another’s need
and feel another’s loss,
God give us courage and the strength,
the memory of your cross;
God give compassion, selfless care,
and strip away our pride,
then give us each the grace to love
the ones we might deride.

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
© 2008 Stainer & Bell Ltd. Please include on your CCL Licence return

The care of our planet, the threat of extinction – Hymn

The care of our planet, the threat of extinction,
alerts us to need to be stewards of the earth:
this place of great beauty, our God given tenure,
the place of our nurture, the globe of our birth.

This place we must guard for each new generation,
to leave as we found it or, better, restored;
to share each resource without greed or pretension,
not barring the needy, not plunder, nor hoard.

The  banquet of God is for all of God’s people,
communion companions are both rich and poor,
our ultimate end will remove all distinctions,
no birthright or creed can obstruct heaven’s door.

God’s common wealth love can encompass all nations,
but here in this place we must all make a start:
a life of acceptance of sister and brother,
the practice of loving, a God given art.

Andrew Pratt 1/5/2019
Words © 2019 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England, http://www.stainer.co.uk.
Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Written for the 140th Anniversary of St John’s Methodist Church Whitchurch, Shropshire.
Tunes: STREETS OF LAREDO; ST CATHERINES COURT

Hymn Festival – Paris

RSCM France

welcomes you to a unique event –

In association with the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland…

JOIN US FOR OUR FIRST EVER

HYMN FESTIVAL

In the American Church, Quai d’Orsay, 75008 PARIS

1pm, Saturday 11th May 2019

The hymns, old and new, presented by noted hymnologist

Revd James Dickinson

Members of the RSCM France Singers conducted by

John Crothers

The von Beckerath Grand Organ played by

Malcolm Wisener

Booklet provided. Refreshments will follow our singing!

Suggested donation (at the door): €10

 

The American Church, Quai d’Orsay, Paris 8e

Cheltenham Christian Arts Festival

Your hymn book might hold enough for you, but then something happens in your local church or nationally, or internationally. You turn to HymnQuest. You search the themes and the chances are there’s something here. But, just occasionally, the words don’t fit.

Perhaps you could do better? But how to start.

On April 29th and 30th the Rev Drs Janet Wootton (Pratt Green Trust Vice-Chair) and Andrew Pratt (HymnQuest Editor), internationally known, published hymn writers are running hymn text writing workshops as part of the Cheltenham Christian Arts Festival. Find out more and sign on here: http://christianartsfestival.org/schedule/

Whether you have never written before or have published hymns there will be space for you to share and learn. Janet and Andrew look forward to seeing you.